Germany: First rehearsals commence for Unser Lied für Israel

With only a day left until the German selection on Friday, broadcaster NDR has yet to release any snippets of the seven competing songs. With yesterday marking the first day of rehearsals, we have our first view of the national final staging — and with it, it seems Germany is serious about its chances at Eurovision this year. The quality appears to be high in Unser Lied für Israel.

German ESC blog esc-kompakt gave us updates the whole day on their website, describing each of the entered songs and staging. Below is their overview of the seven acts along with pictures of the rehearsals.

BB Thomaz — “Demons”

BB’s song seems to be a powerful RnB ballad with powerful beats. So there won’t be any piano backings. The main chorus as well as the verses were quite demanding but the final chorus shall be very impressive. The hook “So my demons can go” seems to be a real earworm.

The staging looks interesting but there will be different opinions about the giant stairs. Before the stairs, there is a trampoline as well and BB will be joined by two acrobats and three background singers. The Voice Germany candidate appears in a red dress, sitting on the stairs. During the three minutes, she will constantly move upstairs until she reaches the end of the platform at the end of the second chorus. Then, the two acrobats — the “demons” — first appear. BB will bump the dancers back to the trampoline twice. The third time is the last time where the dancers appear as BB Thomaz finally “defeats” them. The two dancers put on grey suits — “Taken by a Stranger” realness!

Gregor Hägele — “Let Me Go”

Let me go is a very quiet ballad with two calm verses and a powerful bridge, ending in an energetic chorus. One may think of “You Let Me Walk Alone” as the song has a similar build and structure. There are many high notes in the song and Gregor seems to sing them perfectly. “Let Me Go” talks about going into one specific direction even though others may say it’s too risky. It is a call to all loved ones to show support whichever way you go.

Gregor has less action going on with his staging. He stands alone on the stage and doesn’t move much but he isn’t too stiff during the song. First, a big door appears on the LED screen which Gregor is going through while the floor is full of fog. During the song, the background changes into different, colourful landscapes. At the end of the song, a sky full of stars can be seen.

Aly Ryan — “Wear Your Love”

“Wear Your Love” is an electronic pop song. It is powerful from beginning to end. The melody is quite catchy as she sings “Dress me, dress me up, all I wanna do is wear your love”. A few people even thought about “Fuego” while watching Aly Ryan performing her song. It is catchy and you will definitely want to dance during the three minutes. The song is about the self-confidence one gets through the feeling of love. She underlines that nothing is more important than love — no clothes, no money and no other status objects.

Aly brings a big treadmill along. The staging is high class while Aly moves extremely professionally. Walking slowly and barefoot on the treadmill, she is joined by two dancers, one on each side. At the beginning of the song, Aly appears in a long white dress. During the first verse and chorus, the two dancers help her get out of the dress and Aly is then dressed in a golden body suit.

The most interesting part of the staging is that not only does the LED screen get projected, Aly herself shines in different colours too. This leads to a show that looks similar to a music video on camera — there is a noticeably Swedish vibe with shades of “I Can’t Go On” paired with a colourful “Dance You Off“. “Wear Your Love” differs from “Dance You Off” though, as the whole stage and audience is captured many times, unlike Benjamin’s many close-ups.

Makeda — “The Day I Loved You Most”

Makeda delivers a classical power ballad in a golden dress while the background is swathed in shades of blue. She delivers an emotional song which is sung amazingly by a talented singer. Makeda sings about a personal and sad topic — losing close people and watching them while they are happy… even though she’s sad not to be with them.

On stage, there is not much action going on but the staging fits the ballad. Fog appears on the floor and the headlights brighten around the talented singer and shine in different but warm colours. At the end of the song there are sparks behind Makeda, in the form of a shower of fire.

Lilly Among Clouds — “Surprise”

Lilly delivers a song which is quite calm and gloomy in the first few seconds. In the middle of the song, “Surprise” gets faster and more intense. This strict change works very well on stage.

The singer wears a black, sleeveless top with a big red skirt. Lilly is free, dancing alone on stage but still fills it out with her presence. The background is very dark while a thunderstorm seems to be developing. But there is no lightning — instead, a sky full of spheres with blue and golden colours emerges. Even without thunder and lightning, it is still exciting.

When the song speeds up, fog appears on the floor, accompanied by the signature Eurovision wind machine. Lilly’s dancing becomes more impressive, working the stage and her angles. It seems like Lilly is dispelling the fog while hammering the song home.

Linus Bruhn — “Our City”

“Our City” is a modern, radio-friendly song. The first verse of the song is quieter but the main chorus is half-singing, half Jowst-like instrumental electro beats. The bridge is the climax of “Our City”. In the last chorus, Linus’ voice is joined by a choir of different “oh-oh-oh” melodies. Linus describes his song as a universal, timeless song with a strong message. He talks about social media consumption — don’t lose yourself in your phones and social media. Things like the most likes, followers, comments are not important because that’s not reality.

There are a few shapes spread across the stage. During the beginning, Linus flirts with one of the female dancers who then goes away and reappears with even more background dancers. Linus himself stands at the edge of the stage and works some excellent choreography.

Sisters — “Sister”

Laurell Barker strikes again! Her penned song “Sister”can mostly be described as a soul-pop ballad. During the beginning, the song sounds like a piano ballad which then develops into a more powerful melody, building until the end.

Laurita and Carlotta are both dressed in black clothes. The core element of the performance is a spinning, quadratic platform which lays in the fog. It makes it look like these Sisters are flying. Both singers first walk in circles and distance themselves from one another before they end the song together on the edge of the stage.

In the final seconds of Sister, the LED screen shows many faces of women including Laurita and Carlotta. The effect is haunting but befitting the performance as these ladies hammer home the final bars.

There’s a lot going on here but it all comes together for a dramatic and effective conclusion.

What is your first impression of the staging? Do you think Germany can reach the Top 5 again this year in Tel Aviv? Let us know in the comments below!

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